There's no question that the HTC One is a very high-quality smartphone, but if you don't care for HTC's Sense 5 UI, we've got good news for you. Google's Sundar Pichai, who has been running the Android team since Andy Rubin's departure in March, just announced that a stock Android edition of the HTC One would be coming to the Google Play store on June 26th. This follows several insistent rumors that Google and HTC were preparing to do exactly that.

Pichai made the announcement at the D11 conference (as reported by Engadget), and HTC quickly made things official on its own site. The "Nexus experience" edition of the One will include stock Android 4.2, an unlockable bootloader, and the same GSM/EDGE, HSPA+, and LTE connectivity options as other versions of the phone. It will also come with 32GB of storage and will run you $599, $50 less than the Nexus experience version of Samsung's Galaxy S 4 announced at Google I/O.

Between this and the S 4, one begins to wonder if these "Nexus experience" phones are just another front in Google's battle against Android fragmentation or if these kinds of phones will eventually replace the special Nexus phones that Google has been making for the last few years. We've reached out to Google for comment (and to see whether the company is ready to announce any other Nexus experience phones from its partners) and will update this article if we receive a response.

Update: Pichai mentioned at D11 that Google would continue to make Nexus phones with its partners. A Google representative said these would continue to be used to "push hardware forward with partners." The Google rep also told us that the company "hope[s] to partner with more OEMs in the near future" on more Nexus experience devices, so don't expect the stock HTC One to be the last one we see.

Wonder if more are coming from other OEMs? (Sony and LG, in particular)

Couldn't agree more. It would seem that more interest in stock/Cyanogenmod is starting to change the atmosphere of Android. Assuming these devices sell like hotcakes vs. the various skinned phones and their abysmal UIs, I think we'll have the fragmentation bullshit behind us in a couple years at most.

This is actually awesome. I've very much enjoyed my galaxy nexus since day one, but the plastic case is really starting to bug me. If I was in the market for a new phone I would pick this up in a heartbeat. It looks fantastic and with no skinning? Beautiful!

This is actually awesome. I've very much enjoyed my galaxy nexus since day one, but the plastic case is really starting to bug me. If I was in the market for a new phone I would pick this up in a heartbeat. It looks fantastic and with no skinning? Beautiful!

In the same boat here. Can't quite justify swapping my galaxy nexus for just prettier hardware.

I think that's a bit of an overstatement. Their HTC One with stock android won't exactly start out selling the carrier subsidized One nor the Galaxy 4. This is a nice fan service but it's not saving them from anything.

I only question how the camera will work and if the software for the IR blaster will come with that phone as they are both uncommon technologies on current Android phones.

I think that's a bit of an overstatement. Their HTC One with stock android won't exactly start out selling the carrier subsidized One nor the Galaxy 4. This is a nice fan service but it's not saving them from anything.

I only question how the camera will work and if the software for the IR blaster will come with that phone as they are both uncommon technologies on current Android phones.

Not really. If the ROM image is available and compatible with the subsidized models then this significantly steps in the direction of solving the fragmentation and update problem that Android is currently suffering.

Making real and whole upgrades available for the flagship phones on the Android platform is a very important step.

I think that's a bit of an overstatement. Their HTC One with stock android won't exactly start out selling the carrier subsidized One nor the Galaxy 4. This is a nice fan service but it's not saving them from anything.

I only question how the camera will work and if the software for the IR blaster will come with that phone as they are both uncommon technologies on current Android phones.

Agreed. The IR blaster is a big feature for me and AFAIK the only app capable of taking advantage of it at this point is HTC Sense TV.

Ahh....balls. I've been looking forward to a "nonsense" version of this handset but not enough to use AT&T. I'd switch from Sprint to T-Mobile since I'm expecting most of these "vanilla" ports to be GSM-only but AT&T would cost me a good deal more as well as take away my unlimited data plan.

Maybe by the time my contract is up in 6-7 months I'll be able to find something like this for T-Mo or (less likely) Sprint.

I've had an unlocked HTC One since they launched in the UK. The hardware is simply excellent, and I love the form factor to bits. I've already rooted and mostly replaced sense; nova launcher, chrome, lockscreen, etc. About the only thing I'd miss on stock android from sense would be the HTC camera, as it's a genuine improvement over the stock camera app in 4.2 or any of the 3rd party ones I've tried (and I've tried a few). Blisteringly fast, lots of options; including holding down the shutter button for burst shot and a quick, decent HDR mode.

If they can bring the camera app across to stock, and I can use the stock rom on my One (and given there's already cyanogenmod, I'd be surprised if it can't be hacked on there unofficially if necessary) then I'd definitely switch and not look back. Otherwise I'll probably wait until the 4.2-based Sense ROM and make the decision then, the camera app is that good, and the only thing I really miss from 4.2 is the quick-settings in the notification bar.

A faster update to key-lime pie if you go with stock ROM over sense would be a lovely addition.

Honestly, I don't really see the goal of buying it straight from Google. Unless you go with T-mobile, there is little incentive to be off contract (except if you don't expect to be in the US for long), carriers will not reduce the cost of your plan just because you brought your own phone.

I think the main reason that the Nexus 4 was such a success was that it was a good device (it could be compared to the GS3) while the starting off contract price was almost half of the GS3. But bear in mind, that it did come out roughly 6 months after the GS3 and was basically sold out until 8 months after the GS3 release date.

At $300, I don't think there was any phone that actually had a version of Android > 2.3

I think this means that people like smartphones, but they just wish they were more affordable even if it means sacrificing on specs.

The SG4 and HTC One are flagship phones and I don't think they target the same group of people that rushed to get the Nexus 4.

Honestly, I don't really see the goal of buying it straight from Google. Unless you go with T-mobile, there is little incentive to be off contract (except if you don't expect to be in the US for long), carriers will not reduce the cost of your plan just because you brought your own phone.

The goal is to get a phone that is running stock Android.

Sure, you can get it from the carrier, and hope the bootloader is unlockable, then push your own ROM, but then you'd still have to wait for CM to port to your phone. They are fairly quick, but not all the features work out of the box. For example, when I had a GS-3 before I returned it, I put on the latest CM, but device encryption was busted. As soon as the screen turned off, the phone rebooted when you turned it back on. It was a noted issue in the latest CM builds.

Getting the phone straight from google, is the fastest way to get the latest stable builds.

I'd get a Nexus 4, but if it doesn't have LTE, I ain't buying it. This is why the Google Edition One and GS4 intrigued me. I like the One better, because I hate how Samsung put in a capacitive menu button, which breaks the UI design on ICS/JB. I can re-enable the soft buttons, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. Plus, when I re-enabled it on my GS3, the TouchWiz apps broke, because they hardcoded the screen size, so some of the UI components were partially obscured by the soft buttons.

Honestly, I don't really see the goal of buying it straight from Google. Unless you go with T-mobile, there is little incentive to be off contract (except if you don't expect to be in the US for long), carriers will not reduce the cost of your plan just because you brought your own phone.

1) Stock Android without fucking around with ROMs.2) The problem you state is easily fixed by buying a subsidized phone, selling it, and using the funds towards the unsubsidized phone. This will make the price work out the same or even less. Simple solution.

This is quite interesting. Looking forward to a review to see how/if stock Android changes the experience - in particular regarding the camera and the two capacitive hardware buttons. Android 4 seems to want soft buttons, not fixed hardware ones.

Unfortunately, in the US the phone won't sell big because you have to pay $600 upfront, and 3 of the 4 big carriers still (over)charge you the same whether the phone is subsidized or full-price.

On a separate note, it would be great to have a "phone-less" version of this, similar to the iPod Touch for the iPhone. I'd throw down $300 for that!

I've had an unlocked HTC One since they launched in the UK. The hardware is simply excellent, and I love the form factor to bits. I've already rooted and mostly replaced sense; nova launcher, chrome, lockscreen, etc. About the only thing I'd miss on stock android from sense would be the HTC camera, as it's a genuine improvement over the stock camera app in 4.2 or any of the 3rd party ones I've tried (and I've tried a few). Blisteringly fast, lots of options; including holding down the shutter button for burst shot and a quick, decent HDR mode.

If they can bring the camera app across to stock, and I can use the stock rom on my One (and given there's already cyanogenmod, I'd be surprised if it can't be hacked on there unofficially if necessary) then I'd definitely switch and not look back. Otherwise I'll probably wait until the 4.2-based Sense ROM and make the decision then, the camera app is that good, and the only thing I really miss from 4.2 is the quick-settings in the notification bar.

A faster update to key-lime pie if you go with stock ROM over sense would be a lovely addition.

You know, I've never understood why companies like HTC don't make their apps available for download on the Google Play store. I would imagine they could limit the software to only work on their hardware. I just don't get why they wouldn't make their camera app available to their own devices if their own devices are legitimately being sold with stock Android.

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.